Hit the jump for the full report!
The lineup this time was predominantly Japanese.
It went as follows:
Toxic Holocaust
SeikimaII
All That Remains
Onmyoza
X Japan
I took a buddy from South Africa who recently relocated to Japan along for the party. He too had a blast. Sadly I didn’t get there in time for Toxic Holocaust and as a result I didn’t get any shots of them.SeikimaII
Pronounced Seikimatsu, a classic and rather famous metal act from the 80s in Japan. I didn’t know exactly what to expect as I had never heard them before… I mean, I knew Demon Kogure sama but outside of Karaoke, I had never heard anything. If the original band were half as good as the University cover act then they must have been a pretty damn impressive act. The guys covered not only their music but their stage presence as well. The Vocalist’s impression of Demon Kogure sama was particularly good. Overall, they were Impressive and entertaining. I now need to dig up some of the original works and give them a listen. All That Remains
Next up were two of my mates from before and their cover of All that Remains. The same vocals and drums from last year’s mindspankingly good Dimension Zero rendition They hit hard and fast and got the circle going. They didn’t have the flair of the previous group but metalcore has never been about the show. I was happy. I got my mosh. They got the crowd pumping and my blood boiling, which is impressive, since they are essentially just a bunch of University students dicking around in their free time. Hobbies in Japan are taken seriously. But yeah. Any one of these groups would command large crowds were they actual bands.Onmyoza
The beauty amongst the beasts. Being a female fronted band, the University cover band too was fronted by a rather small, cute and impressive vocalist. Her voice was clear and rich and was a great match for Kuroneko’s. I had only ever heard one track by the band and to be honest it never made an impression on me but I did enjoy the live cover rendition of them. Unlike SeikimaII there was no mimicking the stage act of Onmyoza but to be fair, that would have been a bit of a hassle for such a short set. I did find that in the gaps between songs the genk level was low. Demon Kogure sama fixed that however when he returned to the stage to play a few songs with them.X Japan
Japan’s ultimate metal band. The band that defines every part of the genre in this country. You could probably find an X Japan fan in every single rock band here. and as a result. Quite possibly the hardest band in Japan to try and cover. They did an amazing job. The musicians were particularly impressive. The sound was right. They kept the rhythm and they hit the notes. If I were to pick at the performance I would say the vocalist was not as tightly ‘X’ as the rest of the band but the simple fact that he sounded like Toshi was an impressive achievement so I could forgive him having to force out some of the more stressful stuff. It may be the closest I will get to seeing them live so for me it was great feeling even a hint of their power on stage…
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